[urq] A few comments about ice racing...

[Louis-Alain Richard]

... from an amateur point of view, of course !

Brady and I did a lapping session at www.Mecaglisse.com last weekend and we
had a wonderful time. Even if it was my 5th session there, I discovered a
few things:

1- Good rear brakes are a must on ice, if you want to do the Scandinavian
flick. With new (stock) brakes, the car is SO easy to rotate, that's a
wonder. Just a little tap on the pedal, and the weight transfer is on the
front wheels while the rear axle is sliding gently. Easy. 

2- My driving style involves a lot of braking, to the extent that the rotors
were really hot, even if the temp was around freezing point. Granted we
don't go very fast (50mph/80kmh) and I brake about 12 times by lap, but
there isn't much energy to dissipate. I guess left foot braking is harder
than I thought.

3- The 1983 transmission is really badly staged for this track: always in
second except for 2 corners in first and 5 short stints in 3rd. A 1984 with
the 4.11 or even the 3.89 would be ideal.

4- A turbo engine, even if it was a cool day, produces a lot of heat, to the
extent that the radiator fan was working all the time. And then, the damn*d
thermo switch quit (from too much cycles I guess) so I had to crawl in the
fender well to jump the contacts and have the rad fan working at idle. Even
my secondary pusher fan was not up to the task of dissipating the BTUs.

5- Confidence = speed. My 5th session, the same car I drive since 5 years,
good narrow studded tires, all this gave me the opportunity to see other
drivers let me pass (and try to follow me after...) WITHOUT touching a
single snowbank during the whole session. On the other hand, some will say
that if you don't touch anything, you're not going fast enough... 

Here is a gallery (not mine) from last year (2005) January session :
http://www.kernel-panic.net/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Mecaglisse-
20050108&page=1 and a photo of the track
(http://forums.montrealracing.com/showthread.php?t=177209). 
Note that a car is smaller than the size of the letter "a". A lap is a 3
minutes affair.

BTW, there is a driver education event for Audi on February 19th. Brady and
I will be there as "invited" instructors. Or, there is another lapping
session on February 5th, where I will probably assist a UK friend with zero
knowledge of snow-ice racing... in a right hand drive rally-prepped Golf !
This will be a challenge for sure... same seat, no steering !

Hope to see you there one day ! 

Louis-Alain